Interactive media (e.g., the Internet) has great potential for improving the targeting of advertisements (“ads”) to receptive audiences. For example, some websites provide information search functionality that is based on keywords entered by the user seeking information. This user query can be an indicator of the type of information of interest to the user. By comparing the user query to a list of keywords specified by an advertiser and associated with a particular advertisement or group of advertisements, such as an advertisement campaign, it is possible to provide targeted ads to the user. An example of such a system is AdWords™ offered by Google, Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.).
Web site-based ads (also referred to as “Web ads”) are some times presented to their advertising audience in the form of “banner ads”—i.e., a rectangular box that includes graphic components. Ads can also be presented as sets of one or more text boxes, video ads, audio ads, and the like. When a member of the advertising audience (hereinafter referred to as a “viewer” or “user” without loss of generality) views one of the ads (such as when a page of content including the ad is displayed and/or rendered to the audience member), that is deemed to be an “impression” of the ad. When a user selects one of these ads by clicking on it, embedded hypertext links typically direct the viewer to the advertiser's Web site. This process, wherein the viewer selects an ad, is commonly referred to as a “click-through” (“Click-through” is intended to cover any user selection.). The ratio of the number of click-throughs to the number of impressions of the ad (i.e., the number of times an ad is displayed) is commonly referred to as the “click-through rate” (CTR) of the ad. A “conversion” is said to occur when a user consummates a transaction related to a previously served ad. What constitutes a conversion may vary from case to case and can be determined in a variety of ways. For example, it may be the case that a conversion occurs when a user clicks on an ad, is referred to the advertiser's web page, and consummates a purchase there before leaving that web page. Alternatively, a conversion may be defined as a user being shown an ad, and making a purchase on the advertiser's web page within a predetermined time (e.g., seven days). Many other definitions of what constitutes a conversion are possible. The ratio of the number of conversions to the number of impressions of the ad (i.e., the number of times an ad is displayed) is commonly referred to as the conversion rate.
Another form of advertising is ad syndication, which allows advertisers to extend their marketing reach by distributing ads to additional partners. For example, third party online publishers can place an advertiser's text, image, audio or video ads on web properties with desirable content to drive online customers to the advertiser's website. An example of such a system is AdSense™ offered by Google, Inc.
In some systems, advertisers pay for their ads through an advertising auction system in which they bid on advertisement placement on a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) or a Cost-Per-Mille (e.g., thousand impressions) (CPM) basis. The auction can be run between competing advertisers via each bidders CPC and/or CPM bid, or through a more complex equation of CPC and CPM, such as one that weighs the advertiser's bid by that advertisement's known Click-Thru-Rate (CTR).
In some systems, advertisers may advertise on multiple websites, advertise in various parts of the world, and have many different types of advertisements (e.g., text, audio video). Advertisers may want to have statistical reports that provide useful information, so that they can adjust their advertising campaigns, e.g., reduce advertising on websites or from regions that are not producing the desired results, changing the type of advertisement (“ad”), or modifying the list of keywords specified by an advertiser and associated with a particular advertisement or group of advertisements, and so forth.